Yebu language

Yebu
Awak
Native toKaltungo LGA, Gombe State, eastern Nigeria
Native speakers
(6,000 cited 1995)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3awo
Glottologawak1250

Yebu (language name: Yiin Yebu;[2] also known as Awak or Awok) is one of the Savanna languages of Kaltungo LGA in Gombe State, northeastern Nigeria.

There are five distinct dialects corresponding to each of the original five settlements that had been spoken on the Awak Hill. Yebu is currently spoken in the plains rather than in the speakers' ancestral territory of Awak Hill.[3]

Villages

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Yebu villages according to Blench (2019):[2]

Village name IPA Hausa/Fulfulde name Notes
Bwara ɓʷǎrâ
Feka féːkâ Jauro Gotel 70% Yebu
Fun fúùn Bagaruwa
Kewur kʲèwúr
Kungge kùjèŋí
Kuran kūrân
Kwabilakɛ kʷàplākē
Momidi mòmīdī
Soblong sòlóŋ
Tangga tàŋgá
Wuyaka ɓᶣāáká Sabon Layi
Yeri-Tayo tàːjó jèrí
Cwelangi ʧʷélàŋí
Yebo je᷆bǒ

Fulani villages that have Yebu chiefs are Tɔrɛ, Langgarɛ, and Lugayidi.[2]

Hausa villages that have Yebu chiefs are Daura, Dundaye, Salifawa, Dogon Ruwa (mixed Hausa and Yebu village), Garin Bako, Garin Korau, and Garin Barau.[2]

Other languages spoken in the area are Waja, Kamo, Tangale, and Tula.[2]

Phonology

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Yebu exhibits vowel length contrast, although it is uncommon in the language. It also has consonant gemination. There are six phonetic tones derived from three phonetic tone heights:[2]

  • High ʹ
  • Mid ˉ
  • Low ˋ
  • Rising Low-High ˇ
  • Rising Mid-High ᷄
  • Falling High-Low ˆ

Grammar

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Future/irrealis is marked using reduplication. In the region, morphological reduplication used for such purposes is typologically rare.

References

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  1. ^ Yebu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Blench, Roger. 2019. Aspects of the phonology and grammar of the Yebu (Awak) language in Nigeria.
  3. ^ Kleinewillinghöfer, Ulrich. 2014. The languages of the Tula – Waja Group. Adamawa Languages Project.